Against Tories: Savage Against Left

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THE December edition ef the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers' monthly magazine contained a clear and unmistakeable message from the union's general secretary for all left-wingers in the union's ranks.

"Many of you I'm sure will share with me complete distress at what is happening in the Labour Party today. Our chances of success at the next election is (sic) being squandered day by day by 'parties within parties' writes Jim Murray, the union's general secretary.

He continues: "Are we reaching a situation in trade unionism also where we have 'unions within unions' or a 'society within a society"? I am prompted to make these comments reflecting sadly upon a report of a meeting within our Society which has reached my desk and I now publish in full (without correction)."

Murray then wastes a Rob Dawber (Sheffir Industrial action by train drivers starting on January 4 with a ban on overtime working leading up to a national strike on 13/14 January will reopen in many NUR members' minds the issues around the August 1981 pay negotiations.

Then, a national strike by all railway workers was averted by a deal which included two "separate" agreementsone on productivity (which management had wanted linking to pay) and one on pay (which the union leadership said they would not accept being linked to productivity).

The deal made the original offer of 8% payable large amount of space in the union's magazine by publishing an unexpurgated version of the minutes of an innocuous, not to say boring, Broad Left meeting which took place over a year ago.

Threat But there can be no mistaking the threat to the left in the union contained in Murray's closing comments on these treasonous documents: "I believe this Society cannot afford to have a 'society within a society' and I warn our membership-you will ignore this group at your peril."

in reality of course, it is Murray himself, not the Broad Left, that represents a peril for the ASOB membership. When 900 ASOB and GMWU members struck at the Hunterston yard in Aryshire in September 1980, it was not the Broad Left but Murray who sanctioned and d NUR)

from April and the disupted 3% (which management had wanted to make dependent on productivity agreements)

payable from January 1982 and backdated to August.

Productivity

The ASLEF leadership has not however agreed the productivity changes that management wanted from the train drivers and management are now refusing to pay the 3% to the train drivers.

As regards the NUR, however, the 3% will be paid as the leadership of our union has agreed everything that management wanted..

Instead of making a stand against the continuing decimation of the railway industry, these changes could mean up to 38,000 ine news, pith statista for guards on freight trains, and in some departments weekend working becoming part of the normal working week so as to reduce overtime.

This treachery doesn't stop at simply agreeing to these changes, however. Sid Weighell, General Secretary of the NUR, has launched a witch-hunt against those members of his union who are trying • to organise a Broad Left to turn the NUR into a fighting union which defends its members and stops these sell-outs. organised scabbing the strike.

Again it is Murray, not any member of the Broad Left, who is on trial at the moment over alleged ballot irregularities.

And Murray, despite claiming that his opposition to the Broad Left based on his concern for democracy in the union, has done nothing at all in support of the recently launched Campaign in Defence of the Right to Picket' (CDRP), which is campaigning in support of Abie Courtney, a former shop steward at Hunterston arrested during the strike there for picketing.

Cold feet The fore-warning of Murray's offensive against the left in the union, indicated by the above comments of his, underlines the need for all aspects of SOCIALIST Organiser spoke to NUR Executive member IAN WILLIAMS about the witch-hunting attack launched against him and other left wingers by union leader Sid Weighell. Williams, of course, speaks à personal capacity.

What was the first you heard about the witch hunt?

In June there was an inaugural meeting of the Broad Left. I was named as a speaker - in a personal capacity.

Sid (Weighell) got hold of a leaflet and wrote to me asking why I had participated in what he called an unofficial circular.

Then he sent out a circular to all branches warning them about unofficial circulars. He invited them to send him copies of any unathorised material that had come into their hands.

Only about 50 branches out of six or seven hundred replied. And none of them sent complaints - just copies of leaflets.

What was the next development?

Weighell asked me for a written assurance that "would not continue to break the rules" • This was like the old "Have you stopped beating your wife?"

I wrote back saying that had not broken any rules. democracy and rank and file activity in ASOB (such as the CDRD) to be supported.

Unfortunately however it would seem that some of the Communist Party elements in the Broad Left are already starting to get cold feet about the CDRP.

At the December meeting of Glasgow ASOB branch 11 (the branch which passed the motion that has been used as the basis for building the CDRP), CP member Sammy Barr said he fully supported the campaign's goals, but it wuld have been better to launch an appeal for funds after Abie's trial.

The CDRP is out to publicise the political issues posed in and by Abie's trialnot just to pass a cap around afterwards to cover the costs and the fine.

Support for the CDRP must be built both in and outside the ASOB. While confronting the Tories, the bosses and the police in their capacity) sp Then came the fight over wages on London Transport. I wrote a letter to Labour Weekly and London Labour Briefing replying to Ken Livingstone's argument that the strike threat was a right wing plot.

I said that if it was right wing to demand a living wage, then Livingstone should examine his own credentials. I called on him to shoulder aside London Transport management.

I received a letter from Weighell asking for an explanation of "unauthorised communication with the press"

It was obvious 1 was being set up. And I began to get phone calls from branches in my area, asking me about rumours that was about to be expelled!

How did the inquiry com about?

In September Sid came to the Executive with a 7page document - more than two of which were about me.

He asked that a special sub-committee be set up to consider this.

It caused a problem on the Executive because if any appeal to the AGM.

In the end the sub-committee was set up. Sid produced more and more photocopies of the Militant -For further information about the Campaign in Defence of the Right to Picket, contact CDRP, c/o A. Courtney, 72 Tallant Road, Drumchapel, Glasgow. fight for a A WORKERS Orgoniser Pamphlet GOVERNMENT » plus postage m Socialist Organiser, Middle Lane, London • to Socialist Organiser 'proving' that they write about the NUR. He even underlined all the most accurate and pithy parts!

In the last week before the quarterly meeting of the Executive the sub-committee held no less than 16 hours of sessions.

What were the There were two reports.

One, supported by a minorIty of three on the subcommittee, became known the first report'. It as. waffled on about unofficial organisations, but most of what Sid wanted had been edited out.

Of the six named people, one - a SWP member from Brighton - had pleaded guilty and promised not to do it again; one had blamed a printer's error; and one had left the industry. Three of us were found guilty: | was found guilty of two more offences than I had been charged with!

Were you called called or allowed to give evidence?

I was found guilty without any appearance or evidence.

We were invited to submit written evidence, but there seemed no point in giving more material to the prosecutor.

Nobody was called before the sub-committee; it only looked at bits of paper. by V.C

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decision at all were taken it would given grounds for an

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